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ITALIAN 101:Italy: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Renowned for its rich cultural tradition, Italy is also one of the most problematic nations in Europe. This course explores the contradictions at the heart of Italy by examining how art and literature provide a unique perspective onto modern Italian history. We will focus on key phenomena that contribute both positively and negatively to the complex "spirit" of Italy, such as the presence of the past, political realism and idealism, revolution, corruption, decadence, war, immigration, and crises of all kinds. Through the study of historical and literary texts, films, and news media, the course seeks to understand Italy's current place in Europe and its future trajectory by looking to its past as a point of comparison. Taught in English.

This course is both an introduction to medieval Italian literature and culture and a continuation of the study of the Italian language. Our voyage through medieval Italian literature will explore the interconnected realms of Eros and Death, of Love and Horror: how to reconcile religiosity and the viscerally carnal images of this period's poetry? Why is the heart object of adoration and, at the same time, of cannibalistic cravings? We will begin our journey in the XIII century with religious poetry and the Sicilian School, to then move and dwell in the Florence of Cavalcanti, Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. Florence will be the main stage for our Spectacles of Love and Horror: a city at once cradle of Dolce Stil Novo and of bloody political fights, almost completely annihilated by the 'Black Death' in the XIV century. The protagonists of our story will be some of the most extraordinary works of Italian Literature, such as Saint Francis' Cantico delle creature, Dante's Commedia, Petrarch's Canzoniere, Boccaccio's Decameron. All class discussion, reading, and writing will be in Italian. Prerequisites:
ITALLANG 22A or equivalent level of proficiency.

ITALIAN 128:The Italian Renaissance and the Path to Modernity

The literature, art, and history of the Renaissance and beyond. Readings from the 15th through 18th centuries include Moderata Fonte, Machiavelli, Ariosto, Tasso, Galileo, and Goldoni. Taught in Italian. Prerequisites:
ITALLANG 22A or equivalent (2 years of Italian)

ITALIAN 129:Modern Italian Culture

This course examines the fate of Italian culture since 1800. We will study major examples of Italian literature, art, and cinema from the modern period in relation to their historical context. Taught in Italian. Prerequisites:
ITALLANG 22A or equivalent.

Issues of authenticity, morality, personal identity, and the value of truth explored through film; philosophical investigation of the filmic medium itself. Screenings to include Blade Runner (Scott), Do The Right Thing (Lee), The Seventh Seal (Bergman), Fight Club (Fincher), La Jetée (Marker), Memento (Nolan), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kaufman). Taught in English.

Last offered: Winter 2019
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II

ITALIAN 155:The Mafia in Society, Film, and Fiction

The mafia has become a global problem through its infiltration of international business, and its model of organized crime has spread all over the world from its origins in Sicily. At the same time, film and fiction remain fascinated by a romantic, heroic vision of the mafia. Compares both Italian and American fantasies of the Mafia to its history and impact on Italian and global culture. Taught in English.

What, if anything, does reading literature do for our lives? What can literature offer that other forms of writing cannot? Can fictions teach us anything? Can they make people more moral? Why do we take pleasure in tragic stories? This course introduces students to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. It addresses key questions about the value of literature, philosophical puzzles about the nature of fiction and literary language, and ways that philosophy and literature interact. Readings span literature, film, and philosophical theories of art. Authors may include Sophocles, Dickinson, Toni Morrison, Proust, Woolf, Walton, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Students master close reading techniques and philosophical analysis, and write papers combining the two. This is the required gateway course for the Philosophy and Literature major tracks. Majors should register in their home department.

JAPAN 60:Asian Arts and Cultures (ARTHIST 2)

An exploration of the visual arts of East and South Asia from ancient to modern times, in their social, religious, literary and political contexts. Analysis of major monuments of painting, sculpture and architecture will be organized around themes that include ritual and funerary arts, Buddhist art and architecture across Asia, landscape and narrative painting, culture and authority in court arts, and urban arts in the early modern world.

2019-2020 Winter

JAPAN 82N:Joys and Pains of Growing Up and Older in Japan

What do old and young people share in common? With a focus on Japan, a country with a large long-living population, this seminar spotlights older people's lives as a reflectiion of culture and society, history, and current social and personal changes. Through discussion of multidisciplinary studies on age, analysis of narratives, and films, we will gain a closer understanding of Japanese society and the multiple meanings of growing up and older. Students will also create a short video/audio profile of an older individual, and we will explore cross-cultural comparisons. Held in Knight Bldg. Rm. 201.

This class is structured around three motifs: love suicide (as a romantic ideal), female desire, and same-sex sexuality. Over the course of the quarter we will look at how these motifs are treated in the art and entertainment from three different moments of Japanese history: the Edo period (1615-1868), the modern period (1920-65), and the contemporary period (1965-present). We will start by focusing on the most traditional representations of these topics. Subsequently, we will consider how later artists and entertainers revisited the conventional treatments of these motifs, informing them with new meanings and social significance. We will devote particular attention to how this material comments upon issues of gender, sexuality, and human relationships in the context of Japan. Informing our perspective will be feminist and queer theories of reading and interpretation.